AFCON Qualifier : Nigeria 4-0 Libya

Uyo, Nigeria : A hat trick from Odion Ighalo and one goal from Samuel Kalu gave Nigeria’s Super Eagles a 4-0 win over Libya in a 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifier AFCON Qualifier on Saturday .

The match was played at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

Ighalo, who plies his trade with the Chinese club, Changchun Yatai, grabbed the first goal from the penalty spot after a blunder from the Libyan goalkeeper in the second minute.

In the 58th minute, Arsenal’s midfielder, Alex Iwobi, delivered a lovely pass to Ighalo who maintained his composure, dribbled the goalkeeper and scored his second goal for Nigeria. He completed his hat-trick 10 minutes later after latching on a cross from Ahmed Musa.

Samuel Kalu added gloss to the scoreline with his first for Nigeria in the 90th minute to seal a comprehensive victory for the Super Eagles

The Eagles now have six points from three matches in Group E, one point behind South Africa who earlier in the day mauled visiting Seychelles in Johannesburg 6-0. And Libya now occupy the third spot in the log.

Nigeria’s comprehensive win over Libya was not perfect coach Gernot Rohr said after the game.

The German handler was wary of the team’s deficiencies which he said must be corrected before the second leg of the fixture in three days time.

“This result does not mean we had a perfect game today,” Rohr said after the game.

“We had problems defensively especially in the first half and before we play Libya again in three days, we must improve on our weak areas.”

South Africa Beat Seychelles in empty stadium

Yesterday, it was Croatia vs England but this time South Africa and minnows Seychelles had the very awkward and difficult task of playing in a ghost-like stadium.
Another day, another eerie international football match played in front of an empty stadium.

Yesterday, it was Croatia vs England but this time South Africa and minnows Seychelles had the very awkward and difficult task of playing in a ghost-like stadium.

This time round however, the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Soccer City Stadium – which hosted the 2010 World Cup final – was not played behind closed doors.

Bafana Bafana went on to thrash Seychelles 6-0 on Saturday to improve their chances of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations.

But despite the hosts putting six past their opponents, they sadly had no fans to celebrate their biggest ever margin of victory with.

But despite the hosts putting six past their opponents, they sadly had no fans to celebrate their biggest ever margin of victory with.

The 95,000-seater stadium opened its doors for the competitive international clash but only a few fans decided to turn up to see their country play.

The ghostly feel was a stark reminder that South Africa’s 2010 World Cup legacy ambitions sadly failed to live up to expectations.

Eight years on from the hosting the world’s biggest ever sporting event, football in South Africa has clearly failed to grow.

This result officially became South Africa’s record win, overtaking the 5-0 victory against Guatemala eight years ago in a pre-World Cup friendly match in Polokwane, although it was later found that that game had been successfully targeted by match-fixers.